Two taken to hospital after East Long Beach home break-in

A couple was attacked in their East Long Beach home on Wednesday in a brazen daytime robbery, authorities said.

Long Beach Police spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said officers were called for reports of a robbery in the 3100 block of Shadypark Drive at about 12:30 p.m. The suspect (or suspects) had fled the scene and two victims were taken to a hospital, she said. Their conditions were not known, she added.

Robbery detectives remained on the scene investigating in the normally quiet neighborhood near Woodruff Avenue and Los Coyotes Diagonal.

Police did not release further details on Wednesday afternoon.

Neighbors, however, said the residents, a couple in their 50s, were tied up with an electrical cord and pistol-whipped. The man, neighbors said, somehow broke free and ended up in a struggle with another man on the front lawn.

“I heard a scream and I opened my front door and I saw my neighbor in the front yard struggling with a man on top of him,” said a resident, who asked not to be identified out of fear for her safety. “I yelled, ‘Hey!’ and the man (suspect) jumped up and ran. Blood was pouring down my neighbor’s head. We found out that he had been pistol-whipped.”

The neighbor said the suspect jumped into the passenger side of a silver four-door car and sped off.

At that point, the woman, whose wrist and ankles were tied with electrical cord, came out the front door, the neighbor said.

“Her arms and legs were still bound and she was screaming and crying,” the neighbor said. “He ran over and untied her and they both stood up and they were just holding each other so tight. It was a beautiful moment out of the whole chaos.”

Resident Robert Driml, who also witnessed the scene, said the man’s head was covered in blood. The couple was taken to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, where they were being treated, neighbors said. Driml, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years, said he noticed a suspicious-looking woman in a silver vehicle parked near the home earlier that day. A woman was sitting low in the driver’s seat, he said.

The same home was burglarized earlier this year, he added.

“I don’t understand why they targeted this home,” he said. “This is isn’t some lavish neighborhood. It’s just a regular neighborhood.”

District 5 Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, who represents the area, called the crime “heinous” and “brazen” in a statement.

“I am concerned and send my deepest sympathy to the victims of this horrible crime,” Schipske said. “These are brazen suspects to have broken into a home in broad daylight and attacked an elderly couple in order to rob them.”

Schipske said she is working with the police department to remind residents to keep their doors and windows locked and report any suspicious behavior immediately.

Police said the suspects remain outstanding and the investigation is ongoing.